Jamaincan Woodworking

[jteneyck]

Several years ago I met a Jamaican guy.  He comes here every summer to work for a local landscaping company and returns home in the winter.   I was helping a neighbor take down some trees at the same time he was there and when he found out I wanted the logs for lumber he told me he was a woodworker.  He came to my shop, helped me move wood and machines, and a friendship developed.  In the past couple of years he and I have built a few pieces of furniture together.  This year he wanted to build another bed and a couple of bedside cabinets.  

Communication is challenging at times.  I don't speak Patois and Leroy's English is pretty spotty, plus he can't draw which is shocking for someone who builds furniture, so sometimes it's pretty funny trying to figure out what he's trying to say.  But we eventually get on the same page.  I have no clue what the typical level of craftsmanship is in Jamaica but Leroy does things differently than what I'm used to.  I'm not saying it's bad, just different.  Here's a bed we built.  



He turned the legs from some 8/4 maple that I laminated into 4" blocks.  Let me tell you that man knows his way around a lathe.  He turned those legs in about 5 minutes each.  



The finish is just Sealcoat shellac that he wiped on while they were still on the lathe.  I cut the rabbets on my big bandsaw, and they hold the sides and ends of the bed, which are just screwed to the legs.  You can see ledger boards inside the sides in the top photo.  Nine slats, what Leroy calls lutes, sit on those ledgers, and are flush with the top of the sides.  The mattress sits directly on top of those slats.  Pretty simple.  Typically, he paints the sides of the beds so it doesn't matter much what wood you use as long as it's strong.  We made this one from some honey locust I've had for 10 years and had no clue what to use for.  

Moving on, here's one of the bedside cabinets we made from some cherry boards that a guy gave him, most of which was pretty nice.  



It looks fairly typical of what you might see here but the construction is a little different.  Instead of fitting the stretchers between the sides with M&T or dovetails, he builds a M&T frame with 2-1/4" wide stock, then glues and screws that to the sides, both front and back.  



Here's a photo of the bridle joint type M&T at the top. 



 He cuts the mortises and tenons on the TS with the stock held vertically, with no back support, jig, nothing but the fence.  I was amazed that he could do it so well but I guess after you've done it a few thousand times it's not that hard.  Me?  No way.  The mid frame through mortises were done by boring out most of the waste and then chopping out the rest.  Leroy has an interesting take on fitting joints, too.  Where most of use want nice, smooth, close fitting joints, Leroy believes that rough wood bonds better and any joint that doesn't require a mallet to fit together is too loose.  There is more than one way to put a piece of furniture together.  

The base cove was made on the TS by sliding the wood across the blade.  I've done it before so it didn't come as something new.  I don't particularly like how it looks with this piece but it's his design.  The base and top are screwed to the main body of the cabinet in the typical way.  



He normally captures the back in a dado plowed in the back frame pieces, but I convinced him to just use a rabbet and screw the backs on for these pieces.  He typically makes 5 piece drawers with the sides screwed to the sides of rabbets cut in the fronts, but since I was making these I made 6 piece plywood ones with finger jointed corners to save time.   We used low cost kitchen slides for budget considerations.  

Leroy will finish the cabinets offsite.  He will spray them with dye and then OB varnish.  He says if you dilute varnish enough it sprays fine and dries in a few hours.  He sprays outdoors and I have no idea how he deals with bugs and dust.  When I asked him about sheen, it seems there is only one sheen - gloss, as far as what Jamaicans prefer.  To each their own.  They do a lot of carving on their furniture, too, and I think he plans to carve some flowers on the drawer fronts.  

It's been interesting working with someone from another country where things are done differently.  I think we both are learning a fair bit.  

John

[5thumbs]

Several years ago I met a Jamaican guy.  He comes here every summer to work for a local landscaping company and returns home in the winter.   I was helping a neighbor take down some trees at the same time he was there and when he found out I wanted the logs for lumber he told me he was a woodworker.  He came to my shop, helped me move wood and machines, and a friendship developed.  In the past couple of years he and I have built a few pieces of furniture together.  This year he wanted to build another bed and a couple of bedside cabinets.  

Communication is challenging at times.  I don't speak Patois and Leroy's English is pretty spotty, plus he can't draw which is shocking for someone who builds furniture, so sometimes it's pretty funny trying to figure out what he's trying to say.  But we eventually get on the same page.  I have no clue what the typical level of craftsmanship is in Jamaica but Leroy does things differently than what I'm used to.  I'm not saying it's bad, just different.  Here's a bed we built.  



He turned the legs from some 8/4 maple that I laminated into 4" blocks.  Let me tell you that man knows his way around a lathe.  He turned those legs in about 5 minutes each.  



The finish is just Sealcoat shellac that he wiped on while they were still on the lathe.  I cut the rabbets on my big bandsaw, and they hold the sides and ends of the bed, which are just screwed to the legs.  You can see ledger boards inside the sides in the top photo.  Nine slats, what Leroy calls lutes, sit on those ledgers, and are flush with the top of the sides.  The mattress sits directly on top of those slats.  Pretty simple.  Typically, he paints the sides of the beds so it doesn't matter much what wood you use as long as it's strong.  We made this one from some honey locust I've had for 10 years and had no clue what to use for.  

Moving on, here's one of the bedside cabinets we made from some cherry boards that a guy gave him, most of which was pretty nice.  



It looks fairly typical of what you might see here but the construction is a little different.  Instead of fitting the stretchers between the sides with M&T or dovetails, he builds a M&T frame with 2-1/4" wide stock, then glues and screws that to the sides, both front and back.  



Here's a photo of the bridle joint type M&T at the top. 



 He cuts the mortises and tenons on the TS with the stock held vertically, with no back support, jig, nothing but the fence.  I was amazed that he could do it so well but I guess after you've done it a few thousand times it's not that hard.  Me?  No way.  The mid frame through mortises were done by boring out most of the waste and then chopping out the rest.  Leroy has an interesting take on fitting joints, too.  Where most of use want nice, smooth, close fitting joints, Leroy believes that rough wood bonds better and any joint that doesn't require a mallet to fit together is too loose.  There is more than one way to put a piece of furniture together.  

The base cove was made on the TS by sliding the wood across the blade.  I've done it before so it didn't come as something new.  I don't particularly like how it looks with this piece but it's his design.  The base and top are screwed to the main body of the cabinet in the typical way.  



He normally captures the back in a dado plowed in the back frame pieces, but I convinced him to just use a rabbet and screw the backs on for these pieces.  He typically makes 5 piece drawers with the sides screwed to the sides of rabbets cut in the fronts, but since I was making these I made 6 piece plywood ones with finger jointed corners to save time.   We used low cost kitchen slides for budget considerations.  

Leroy will finish the cabinets offsite.  He will spray them with dye and then OB varnish.  He says if you dilute varnish enough it sprays fine and dries in a few hours.  He sprays outdoors and I have no idea how he deals with bugs and dust.  When I asked him about sheen, it seems there is only one sheen - gloss, as far as what Jamaicans prefer.  To each their own.  They do a lot of carving on their furniture, too, and I think he plans to carve some flowers on the drawer fronts.  

It's been interesting working with someone from another country where things are done differently.  I think we both are learning a fair bit.  

John

Interesting post - thanks! One expression I hear a lot when someone else works with me is: "Well, I guess you could do it that way too...."   I've learned a lot, which is pretty easy since I'm starting from such a low level!

[Ohio Mike]

Nice!  

[BrokenOlMarine]

Very nice.  I have worked with a few folks with language barriers, and it's always interesting, but rewarding in the long run. 

[handi]

I spend at least two weeks every year in Jamaica working with a client down there. Been going there since 2007.

The Patois can be very difficult. They are technically speaking English, but Patois is a very efficient language, eliminating a lot of words to condense the language.

I have found several very good woodworkers in my time there, but like everywhere else, most employees are just working to make a buck, and cut corners at every opportunity.

Islanders always seem to think differently. It takes two weeks to get anything into the islands from Miami, An day it adds about 20%to material costs for everything brought in. So islanders tend to be much more creative in problem solving.